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Search - List of Books by John Cage

"We carry our homes within us which enables us to fly." -- John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 — August 12, 1992) was an American composer, philosopher, poet, music theorist, artist, printmaker, and amateur mycologist and mushroom collector. A pioneer of chance music, electronic music and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century. He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives.

Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4?33?, the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played. The content of the composition is meant to be perceived as the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, rather than merely as four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence, and the piece became one of the most controversial compositions of the twentieth century. Another famous creation of Cage's is the prepared piano (a piano with its sound altered by placing various objects in the strings), for which he wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces, the best known of which is Sonatas and Interludes (1946—48).

His teachers included Henry Cowell (1933) and Arnold Schoenberg (1933—35), both known for their radical innovations in music, but Cage's major influences lay in various Eastern cultures. Through his studies of Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s, Cage came to the idea of aleatoric or chance-controlled music, which he started composing in 1951. The I Ching, an ancient Chinese classic text on changing events, became Cage's standard composition tool for the rest of his life. In a 1957 lecture, Experimental Music, he described music as "a purposeless play" which is "an affirmation of life — not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we're living".

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Visual Art, Writings, and Other Activities   more

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This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "John Cage", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 80
AC Bruce Nauman Mapping the Studio I
Ac Bruce Nauman Mapping the Studio I [Fat Chance John Cage] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9783883756851
ISBN-10: 3883756857
Genres: Arts & Photography, Substores
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Aerial Six  Seven Art is Either a Complaint or Do Something Else
Anarchy New York CityJanuary 1998
The Art of Dove Bradshaw Nature Change and Indeterminacy
The Art of Dove Bradshaw Nature Change and Indeterminacy (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780972424011
ISBN-10: 0972424016
Genre: Arts & Photography
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Composition In Retrospect
Composition in Retrospect (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781878972118
ISBN-10: 1878972111
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Humor & Entertainment
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Confessions d'un compositeur
Confessions D'un Compositeur (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9782844856173
ISBN-10: 2844856179
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Dancers on a Plane John Cage Merce Cunningham Jasper Johns
Dancers on a Plane John Cage Merce Cunningham Jasper Johns (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780947564285
ISBN-10: 0947564284
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Dear Pierre Cher John Pierre Boulez und John Cage Der Briefwechsel
Difference / Indifference Musings on Postmodernism Marcel Duchamp and John Cage
Difference / Indifference Musings on Postmodernism Marcel Duchamp and John Cage [Critical Voices in Art, Theory, and Culture] (Paperback)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9789057013317
ISBN-10: 9057013312
Genres: Arts & Photography, Nonfiction, Humor & Entertainment
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Empty Mind
Empty Mind (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9783518224724
ISBN-10: 3518224727
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Empty Words
Empty Words (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780714527161
ISBN-10: 0714527165
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Empty Words Writings '73'78
Empty Words Writings '73'78 (Hardcover)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780714527048
ISBN-10: 0714527041
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For the Birds In Conversation With Daniel Charles
For the Birds in Conversation with Daniel Charles (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780714526911
ISBN-10: 0714526916
Genre: Humor & Entertainment
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For the Birds John Cage in Conversation with Daniel Charles
For the Birds John Cage in Conversation with Daniel Charles (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780714526904
ISBN-10: 0714526908
Genre: Nonfiction
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Hanne Darboven/John Cage
Hanne Darboven/john Cage (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9783775708975
ISBN-10: 3775708979
Genre: Arts & Photography
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IVI
Ivi [Statistics for Industry and Technology] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780819563132
ISBN-10: 0819563137
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Humor & Entertainment
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John Cage
John Cage (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9782909317557
ISBN-10: 2909317552
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John Cage  Thomas Wulffen Rrose to the Occasion A Conversation
John Cage Thomas Wulffen Rrose to the Occasion a Conversation [Kunsthalle Marcel Duchamp] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9783869843858
ISBN-10: 3869843853
Genres: Arts & Photography, Reference
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John Cage Book of Days
John Cage Book of Days (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781935202011
ISBN-10: 1935202014
Genre: Humor & Entertainment
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John Cage Book of Days 2012
John Cage Book of Days 2012 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781935202646
ISBN-10: 1935202642
Genre: Arts & Photography
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John Cage Diary How to Improve the World
John Cage Diary How to Improve the World [You Will Only Make Matters Worse] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781938221101
ISBN-10: 1938221109
Genres: Arts & Photography, Literature & Fiction
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John Cage New River Watercolors [April 14 - May 20, 1990; The Phillips Collection] (Paperback)
Mirage Verbal Writings Through Marcel Duchamp Notes [Cahier Ulysse, fin de siecle - French Edition] (Paperback)
Pour Les Oiseaux Entretiens Avec Daniel Charles Siecle [Les Batisseurs du XXe i.e. vingtieme - French Edition] (Paperback)
Writing Through Finnegans Wake [University of Tulsa monograph series] (Paperback)